A Good Dusk
by Vethysnia
Summary: Kurama has a secret stash of a new plant he's been cultivating, and wants to test it out on Hiei.


Author's Note: Another one of my telltale oneshots. I worked on this one on and off for the last two and a half months. I currently run my own play-by-post roleplay site on which I do most of my writing so this took longer than I expected it to. I hope it's a nice, juicy heart felt piece and that you all enjoy it. I probably wont write any more to this, so don't expect it or ask for it please. Just relish the YuYu feels, friends. Triggers include marijuana usage and recreational drug bonding.

* * *

He had spent most of the day waiting for his partner of many events, the thicket in which he now congregated enshrouded by the thick canopy of pines, cedar, and overgrown aspens of the natural scenery. He need not count the hours or have any sense of time to be the impatient man that he was. Lord knew he was early anyway, not taking into account that the red haired fox demon attended school for a significant amount of most days.

Perched somewhat comfortably atop one of the highest branches overlooking the clearing, Hiei idly unmasked the Jagan eye, using it to peer far more deeply into the scope of the woods which surrounded him. He spotted Kurama, the bastard taking his sweet leisurely time, even to the point of occasionally turning his head to admire the flowers lining the path. He carried with him a black backpack, but the fire demon was far too haughty now to entertain what the fox could be holding within it.

Hiei dropped down from the branch into the medium-length grass, tapping his foot irritably as Kurama's lithe, handsome visage and form parted the thick brush and entered the thicket. Despite the sour expression painted viciously upon his own face, Kurama smiled at him in greeting, far too deadened by Hiei's constant threats and belligerence through the years.

"Good evening, Hiei. I trust the place was easy enough to find?" He said pleasantly.

"Hn, easy enough to find indeed. Sure took your strangely slow ass long enough to get here."

Kurama paid no mind to his friend's disposition, instead walking past him and choosing to sit down at the trunk of the enormous tree Hiei was in earlier. He then reached for his knapsack and began rummaging around inside.

Hiei grunted. "Did you _hear_ me, fox? I said – "

Kurama raised his hand for silence, and in rarity when it came to Hiei's dealings with most people immediately attained it.

"If you must know, Hiei, after school I stopped by one of the crops I've been growing in this forest. It's a plant that I must say has very special properties, and I've been wanting to test it out after modifying it to affect demon physiology."

The jaganshi's brow furrowed deeply, considering his ally's words, before gruffly shooting him another cacophonic query.

"What kind of poison are you growing out here now? Pity more humans don't stumble upon it and rid all three worlds of their presence."

Kurama produced from his sack a small bottle that looked like it was used for holding tablets or tinctures. He lifted the lid with his thumb and exposed two small rolled sticks of paper that looked like cigarettes. He then held one up, offering it to him, coaxing Hiei to approach closer to inspect it. Of course the black-clad demon's eyes were narrowed in natural suspicion and distrust.

"Come now, Hiei. Do you really doubt me this much after all this time? I promise, it's perfectly fine for your health. In fact, you may find you like it very much. This is my second time testing it; I'm making sure it's not a fluke."

Hiei exhaled exasperatedly, roughly grabbing the roll from Kurama's grasp and looking at it even closer.

"You expect a plant humans smoke to even put a dent in me?"

"Like I said, Hiei," Kurama reassured him, now rummaging in his sack once more and producing a box of strike-on-box matches. "I grew the crop myself and modified it to suit demons."

Kurama offered Hiei his box of matches, but his disapproving look towards the small sticks was evidence enough that he could easily make his own fire. As though begrudgingly as he could possibly be, Hiei placed the joint between his lips, using his fingertips to grip the end while sending a small spark of combustion through the digits to light it. He inhaled deeply, the taste barbed and sumptuous all at once. In the seconds after, he was prepared to fight the fox to the death for poisoning him, even if he was indisposed.

Kurama carried on to speak about the scientific elements involved in cultivating this particular flora. But they all fell on nearly deaf ears.

Within seconds, Hiei felt a strange, calming haze fall over him. The sensation at first made him uneasy, and his initial reaction was to slice the fox in two for lying to him and giving him poison. But when the cerebral haze seemed to settle gently upon his mind, not dulling anything but _amplifying everything_ , he no longer felt the need to fight the tranquility birthed inside of him. Kurama was now silent, gazing at him intently, observing him, and saying nothing for a time. Hiei brought the joint up to his nose, inhaling deeply, deciphering the scent of of the plant which he smoked.

Skunk, lemongrass, pine, soil, and...fruit?

"Does this stuff have a name?" Hiei asked, amazed at how smooth and eerily serene his voice sounded.

"It has garnered many titles in Living World, but I prefer to call it by its scientific name _Cannabis Sativa._ "

Hiei, almost in a trance, turned to look at Kurama as though it was the first real time he had actually seem him. The look in his red gem eyes appeared both strained and conflicted, his thin eyebrows covered by his headband curved almost in sadness. He slowly approached closer to Kurama, before sitting down next to him, the joint still clasped between his index finger and thumb.

"What do you think of it?" The redhead asked.

"It's..." Hiei started, unable to look at his counterpart as the view before him suddenly became vivid with color. "...a hallucinogenic?"

Kurama smiled. "Somewhat. It not only stimulates the pleasure centers of your brain, it should also offer you pain relief."

Hiei said nothing to that, the words of the fox seeming to echo strangely therein his wandering, yet fixated mind. It was like a hole in his awareness was opening, a mouth-like portal to neural districts unknown and mysterious. He should have felt such fear, such anger, toward the fox for inebriating him like this, but with mild surprise he realized he possessed neither of them. He was not partial to using this drug regularly, but Kurama's gesture was obviously one of fellowship above all else. Somehow, he readily accepted this when normally he would not.

He decided to stop fighting it. Well, as best as his willful soul would allow.

"Don't tell me you did all of this for the pathetic reason of 'having fun'."

Kurama chuckled, "If it pleases you to know, this plant has many medicinal properties that I've found drastically reduces the symptoms of many human illnesses. This particular plant along with many other drugs for any kind of consumption is actually illegal in this region of Living World. I guess you could say that...with my research, I'm hoping to change those laws."

This time, it was Hiei who laughed. Openly, boisterously, his mouth wide and demonic fangs scraping against his bottom lip.

"You never cease to amaze me, Fox. Even in this mundane place you find ways to stir up trouble."

"My goodness, Hiei...was that your first compliment?"

Hiei punched him in the arm, hard, but Kurama made no sign of pain or recoil. He merely kept smiling, glancing at his cloaked friend out of the corner of his eye and taking several more slow, but shallow hits on his own joint.

"I forgot to tell you, I visited Genkai's temple last weekend." Kurama said suddenly, pungent smoke falling from between his lips and words as he spoke.

Hiei felt himself freeze, the thought of Yukina becoming the most forthright vision in his mind. Coupled with that fractional iota of anxiety, he usually kept a close watch upon the place with the expansive view of the Jagan eye, and he didn't remember seeing Kurama anywhere near the temple in months. The crafty teen must have known he was watching, and took it upon himself to be more furtive. Like him, Kurama did not appreciate being stalked. He supposed he could appreciate the sentiment.

"What compelled you to go there?" Hiei asked slowly.

"Friendship, companionship, the telltale aspects that make me unworthy in your eyes." Kurama chuckled, his emerald eyes glinting as he continued to stare into the scope of the thicket and forest surrounding them.

Hiei said nothing to that, and took another drag on his joint. The truth was, through the years he no longer pitied and looked down on Kurama for embracing that which his partial humanity had to offer. The fox was a brilliant tactician, knowing full well when it was time to change, to evolve, to suit whatever circumstances in which he was in. His human body and rearing had given him a compassion Hiei was sure Kurama would have never attained had he not lived among them. Through that, it was the fox who had taught him that strength could come from many places and in many forms, even such that were considered frail, and feeble.

"Have you given any more thought to telling Yukina the truth?"

Hiei could do nothing but sigh gravelly, his eyes closing briefly in annoyance of the question. It was always Kurama who brought up Yukina, as though the fox made it his civic duty to make sure he got his ridiculous happily-ever-after.

"What do you think?" Hiei retorted without his usual sting.

"Yukina just seems very lonely, is all."

"And how did you go about deducing that? She has constant company, and many friends who visit her on a near daily basis."

Hiei grunted in irritation, all his reactions now evidently practiced and habitual. Though inside he was no longer feeling any of the typical discomfort he had associated with a conversation where Yukina was the subject, he acted as he did for years upon years. He inwardly remarked, half amused, at how transparent he must have been beneath Kurama's watch, and could not help but be grateful that the fox allowed him to work through the motions if it meant that he, too, could be capable of nourishing their strange, cordial engagement.

"Well Hiei, there are some roles which friends can never fill. Especially when one is of demon blood, the connections between them and family for instance can hardly be called replaceable."

"She will adapt."

Kurama nodded in agreement. "Yes, she will...but will you?"

Hiei was now openly glaring at him, and personally unsure why. It was a fair question. Yukina had lived through many trials and tribulations, each obstacle only causing her to soften more. It was he who existed in stagnancy, clinging to the ways of battle and bloodshed to express the inexpressible.

"I only speak of this because I care for the two of you very much, and I can sense the desolation the distance between you both causes. It is such a needless burden, Hiei...is it not?"

 _He wants me to admit I am in pain. That is something I cannot do. Yet, perhaps._ Hiei could still not speak.

"When you and Yukina are near each other, you both transform. Suddenly she is no longer solemn and you are a well mannered gentleman who does not treat her like she is a frail, breakable thing. The bond the two of you possess goes beyond bloodline and perhaps even logic; I imagine at this point even she has her suspicions about you."

Immediately Hiei asked, "Does she know?"

"I doubt it, but you can never be sure until you ask her."

Hiei went silent again, eyes downcast and shoulders slightly slumped.

A cloud of sweet and sour smoke filled his nostrils as Kurama exhaled another hit, the breeze catching the cloud and filling his own senses once again with a reminder of that titillating intoxicant. Remembering his own joint, whose tiny embers were endangered of going out, he quickly brought it up to his lips once more. This was a sanity unlike any he had ever known; ironically the opposite of poison.

"All that matters is now, and what we do today, Hiei. You're no longer a murderer, and I'm no longer a thief. I'm not saying we shouldn't carry and take responsibility for our sins, but should we choose to live the way we do now, for the rest of our days, such repentance is worth something in the eyes of those who care for you."

"If telling the truth is so damn righteous, why do you hide yourself from your mother?"

Kurama surprisingly enough paused, for Hiei had never taken it upon himself to send such a personal query his direction. Hiei turned his neck slightly to gaze upon him still awaiting an answer, respecting the fact that for a rare, and precious moment, he had silenced Kurama into a profound contemplation he was not expecting.

The redhead gently fiddled with the joint between his fingers before bringing it against his lips once more, inhaling much more deeply than ever before. He exhaled a faint, ghosted cloud of smoke, his stare downward, thoughtful, perhaps even tinged with a touch of sadness.

"I admit, you make a compelling argument..." Kurama started, his tones forlorn and distant at first. "But the two situations are not the same."

"Oh yes...the fox is going to school us on semantics again." Hiei drawled sarcastically, rolling his eyes before closing them entirely whilst taking another drag from his own joint.

To his mild surprise Kurama began to chuckle.

"You know me too well...and have I ever told you that when you're relaxed you sound a lot like Yusuke?"

The corner of Hiei's mouth tightened into an amused smirk. "I could smoke fifty of these things and I'd still be smarter than the detective, at least."

A far from cathartic silence settled betwixt the two before Hiei could no longer stand the bout of intellectual unfinished business they had started with one another.

"You never answered my question."

Kurama sighed.

"Think about it, Hiei. Yukina is no stranger to the brutalities of Demon World and Human World alike. She knows what it is to suffer, and knows how to deal with times of peace. She may not be aware of the reality between the two of you, but I can tell, deep down she knows why she is drawn to you."

Hearing his old friend speak so openly about his beloved sister made Hiei's chest tighten with more unfamiliar emotions, the calming haze that had settled upon his psyche now turning into a mind altering gateway into a mental territory he had never surmised to explore.

His partner continued, the redhead now resting his chin against his deft palm, gazing at Hiei as though imploring him to _truly_ hear and understand what he was about to divulge.

"If Yukina were to ever know the truth, there would be no blood on your hands that she would not forgive. You are going through a transformation, Hiei. We all are. The events of the past year symbolize great change in all our futures. The fact of the matter is...you want to protect her, and it's obvious to everyone who chooses to notice."

Red tresses fell from his shoulders as he turned away slightly, as though about to confirm his own entrapment.

"My mother...she is no small minded creature, and yet she is fragile. I am bound, willingly, to her sacrifice, and ceaseless patience."

Upon his face crept the creases of the saddest expression Hiei had ever seen upon the red haired boy's stoic reflection.

"She refused to accept my hatred of her, my superiority complex over her.. She cared for me every step of the way, never so much as being cross with me no matter how much trouble I caused her with my flawed personal philosophies...or the unconscious baggage I carried."

Hiei starkly interjected, "You're just listing more reasons to tell her."

"Perhaps it's because deep down I do wish to tell her..."

Hiei's stomach lurched, his psyche and body unused to such emotional and introspective conversation. It was rare that such interaction brought him outside the confines of his own perception and sea of repressed thoughts, and the entire ordeal, while a unique and admittedly fascinating experience, was beginning to wear on him.

"Would it be too much to ask you to lead by example?" Kurama asked gently.

"Hn, so if I tell Yukina you'll tell your mother. Such old tactics, my friend." Hiei laughed darkly, before taking the last drag on his joint, watching what was left of the wrapping turn to faint flecks of ash riding the faint breeze.

"I mean it, Hiei. If you can gather enough courage to tell Yukina the truth, I will do the same with my mother."

To dub this a contest of wills would be ignorant to the fox's exponential evolution over the last decade Hiei had come to know him. It was an equal exchange, a symbolic testament to that which Kurama had spoken of before; the act of living ones life apart from the past, and perhaps accepting blindness of the future. Was making Yukina privy to all that lain between them really frightening enough to him that he would risk forever staying unchanged and even devolving? Would she really adapt like he supposed earlier, or would she just grow sadder the longer she existed never knowing the last of her family among the living? Skillfully, while inferring the futility of contemplating the future, Kurama had coaxed Hiei to do just that. Ergo, Hiei found himself envisioning the possibility of Yukina's future without him, in a negative light no less.

And thereafter, it finally hit him that Kurama, too, was intent on ending this meeting as well, trying to subtly find an escape in which he could end the conversation in a stalemate. The emotional repression of demons was heavy subject matter indeed. So he obliged.

"Have it your way then, Kurama." Hiei agreed at last. "I will inform you when it has been done."

"I'm sure you will." The redhead smiled contentedly, snubbing out the end of his much more conservatively smoked joint and putting it back into the pill bottle for later usage. He then stood, putting the items back into his backpack and hoisting it onto his shoulder. Hiei still sat, staring into the ether and appearing to not notice his friend's preparations to adjourn.

"I should get back home for dinner; you're welcome to join me if you want..."

Hiei shook his head silently. He was beginning to feel tired, as though he had trained all day without rest.

"I thought as much. Either way...you should come around more often. The rest of us don't find you nearly as unpleasant as you seem to see yourself."

"Hn, fine, I wont be so scarce. Are you finished here?"

"Have a good night, Hiei. This was nice."

Either Hiei's senses were now starting to come down from the high, or Kurama now moved with a laughable amount of speed compared to his arrival. He wasn't often in the habit of spying on his friends' thoughts, but for the brief moment he did, in a haze of slight curiosity as to what the enigmatic fox demon was thinking while leaving in such a hurry, all he could see was _she's cooking my favorite, after all._

Alone again, the sun was now beyond the mountain peaks and foothills, its rays spreading colors of brilliant magnitude across the sky. Hiei yawned deeply, numbly amazed at what transpired that evening, and confessedly grateful that it had ended.

Leaping nimbly atop the tree branch where he initially waited, he sat with his back against the enormous trunk and immediately felt sleep call to him vehemently. He would sleep here, in this tree tonight, and watch the sun go down completely. There was something timeless, and primal about watching the sunset, even though they would oft plague him with harrowing thoughts sifting far too deeply without his permission. He could count on one hand how many times he watched the sunset feeling at peace within himself.

 _Finally, another good dusk._


End file.
